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The Power of Positive Affirmations: Changing Lives with SelfHoot Founder
106 Plays13 days ago
In this episode of "The Integrated Man Project," host Travis Goodman sits down with Aaron Hokanson, the founder of Selfhoot. The discussion delves deep into how creativity, mental health, and community impact intersect through Aaron's unique brand. Selfhoot is not just about selling products; it's about sparking essential conversations around mental wellness and normalizing the importance of mental health for men.
Aaron Hokanson is the founder of Selfhoot, a brand committed to spreading positivity, self-love, and mental health awareness. Through thoughtfully designed products like wearable affirmations, Aaron aims to inspire meaningful conversations and encourage people to embrace their mental health journey with courage and compassion.
Key Points and Highlights:
- The Genesis of Selfhoot:
Aaron shares his personal struggles with anxiety, depression, and self-doubt, and how hiring a life coach led him to start Selfhoot. He discusses the transformative power of coaching and how it helped him set boundaries and build emotional stability. - The Message Behind Selfhoot:
The brand's mission extends beyond selling products; it's about creating wearable affirmations to help people feel seen, validated, and not alone. Aaron's favorite message, "It's okay to not be okay," speaks to the importance of acknowledging one's emotional state without shame. - Future Vision for Selfhoot:
Aaron envisions significant growth for Selfhoot in 2025, hoping to normalize conversations around mental health and build a community that supports emotional well-being. He emphasizes that improving one's mental health is a constant journey, not a destination.
Reflect on your own mental health journey. Have you been hesitating to seek help or speak about your struggles? Take a small but impactful step today—reach out to a life coach or therapist. Remember, it's okay to not be okay, and you don't have to do this alone.
Share your thoughts or actions on this with us by tagging @shop.selfhoot on Instagram, and join the conversation to help break the stigma surrounding men's mental health.
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YouTube: Travis Goodman
Instagram: @integratedmanproject
Check out the Website: TravisGoodmanLMFT.com
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Transcript
Introduction & Program Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome right to this week's episode of the podcast. Before we jump in, a quick reminder again where the days are counting down. We had just a few weeks away before we start the two new eight week men's peak performance cohort. Is that something you're interested in or you think your dad be interested in or your husband or your boyfriend or your brother or yourself or your buddy, whoever it might be. Link is in the description. It's an eight week group where me and my friend, good friend Pierre, who is a,
00:00:26
Speaker
a licensed board certified psychiatrist and men's coach. And I am again, in case you're new to the show, I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist and men's coach. We both have over 20 years combined of experience working with probably well over 4,000, 5,000 men and individuals in our practices combined. And we guide you through this eight week kind of small group setting.
00:00:45
Speaker
ah We talk about having purpose, having meaning, having identity and values. We talk about masculinity. We talk about ah emotional intelligence. We talk about regulating our nervous system and being effective among other topics. That is something you are interested in. Link is in the description below. Again, it begins the week of January 13th. There'll be two group offerings this round, which we're excited about to do two at the same time to allow more men to join. Now,
Introducing Aaron and Self-Hoot
00:01:11
Speaker
let's jump into this week's topic.
00:01:18
Speaker
Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast. Before we jump into this week's guests, I want to remind you that we are a week away from launching two men's cohorts, uh, their eight week programs under our peak performance group coaching. If you're interested in that, there's a links in the description. You could also just go to men's collective.co men's collective.co o for more information. If you're interested in that,
00:01:43
Speaker
There'll be a Monday group and a Friday group again for eight weeks in a group coaching format and click on that link in the description, share it with you, think would benefit. Um, and without further ado, we're going to get into today's topic and today's topic. Um, I'm really excited to have, uh, this conversation and it's really about blending creativity, mental health and community impact. And joining me today on the show is Aaron and he is the founder of self hoot It's a brand dedicated to spreading positivity, self-love, and mental health awareness through thoughtfully designed products. And his mission goes a little bit beyond that by creating wearable affirmations. It's about sparking meaningful conversations and inspiring people to embrace their mental health journey.
00:02:27
Speaker
with courage and compassion. So we're going to talk ah today a little bit about the story behind self-hoot, the power of affirmations, and a little bit how Aaron is using this design as a force for good. And
Aaron's Mental Health Journey
00:02:38
Speaker
I think this is probably one of the best episodes or conversation pieces we have to start off 2025.
00:02:45
Speaker
ah Spoiler alert, we're recording this in 2024. But on 25, I think it's a great way to start the year off with kind of this message. And so without further ado, welcome, Aaron.
00:02:56
Speaker
How are you doing? Good. Thank you for having me on your podcast. Thank you for the opportunity. I'm excited to chat with you beyond here. Yeah, I'm so stoked that you reached out to me on Instagram and sent me a care package. Was very kind. Get to wear one of the wearable t-shirts and some pins and stickers. And that's how we met as you reached out. And then we had some conversations and I'm glad that we're able to set this up and to dialogue a bit more about kind of your vision. So yeah, first, where are you calling out by the way? Where are you at today?
00:03:34
Speaker
I'm from Utah. um u Born and raised in the nice northern side of Utah. Northern side of Utah. I've been there. Been to Arches National Forest, National Park. Beautiful. Definitely. Love that place. Beautiful. Yeah, very beautiful. again i was Back about 20 years ago, I think I went there. So it was back in my early 20s and it was a beautiful time. I get to see it and it was gorgeous. but um
Impact of Life Coaching on Aaron
00:03:58
Speaker
Before we jump into self food, can you tell us a little bit about kind of what led to this vision of why self food and what what kind of a little bit of your journey, so to speak, your character arc of what you got you to that place? Absolutely. So throughout my whole life, I have struggled with mental health, understanding who I am, and I struggle with anxiety, depression, and
00:04:20
Speaker
having feelings of self-doubt and not feeling that I'm enough um within my family, friends, just everywhere. I feel like every aspect of my life, I felt like I wasn't enough. And a lot of that self-doubt and anxiety really impacted my life. I got back in early 2023, I made the decision to hire a personal life coach to help me with my mental health, to gain um skills and develop develop skills so I can help cope with my mental health and become an emotionally healthy man. And that that's one of the driving forces of why I created Self-Hoot.
00:05:10
Speaker
How has the coaching been going for you so far? It's been awesome. Like at first I was very skeptical of it because um growing up it was very shameful as as a guy to struggle with mental health. And i was very ashamed it was very I was very ashamed of reaching out to get help. And after I took that small step, it changed my life. I developed so many skills and, you know, I become a more confident and emotionally stable ah man because of it. I changed for the better, honestly. And yeah, I couldn't be more blessed.
00:05:53
Speaker
ah Thanks for sharing. it As you're talking, you know that's a very common theme um that I hear working with men ah and that colleagues of mine and other therapists and coaches that I know working with men is such a common message about the shame around
Overcoming Perfectionism & Stigma
00:06:11
Speaker
seeking help around, you know, quote unquote mental health and kind of these barriers around masculinity. Would it be to be a man? And so hearing that it just, it continues to ring true that we still have quite a bit of ways to go. Um, especially in the narrative around men and their mental health or mental wellness. I mean, cause the reality is we all have mental health. We all have mental wellness. All we all do. Um, and to varying degrees and things that,
00:06:37
Speaker
we find we have confidence in and strengths in things that we struggle in. And the amount of shame that men feel around that is very common as well. And so hearing these stories and even the story of yourself is one that I continue to hear is when men do reach out and they find a good either therapist or good coach, it begins to open doors and things change and we realize that actually this is a good thing that it's part of our well-being is to to have this um awareness, strength, growth, having skills, tools, kind of validation, right, not being alone and isolated but being connected and so you know that's wonderful that you've found the courage. You said small step and I might posit that it probably was a seemingly probably felt like a much bigger step initially to go through all those barriers. Yeah definitely but it's just one little I mean step even though it felt like a huge step.
00:07:30
Speaker
Yeah, yes, I think and you're right. I think in the grand scheme, it it is small in the sense that its seek it's kind of that just, hey, I need help. But I think to get to that is like ever sometimes for a lot of for a lot of us, because there's all these messages, barriers, social constructions, family culture, all this stuff around it that it could feel like, oh my gosh.
00:07:50
Speaker
So I'm really stoked that you were able to kind of come to a place to say I need that and then finding the benefit and the help. um In fact, i'm I'm curious, what's, you know, one thing if you don't mind sharing, what's been like one of the most beneficial things from doing life coaching for you that you've seen in your life, like get stronger or grow or change?
00:08:09
Speaker
Honestly, it it taught me how to set boundaries within my life. Like before my um starting my mental my mental health self development journey, I was a huge like people pleaser. And I also had the perfectionism mindset. And just learning to set boundary healthy boundaries has been a huge breakthrough for me, because I feel a lot more confident and happy and making those decisions and I feel a lot more free, you know, there's no expectations. Yeah. Yeah. That's a big one. I mean, and thanks for sharing, um, you know, being able to set boundaries within herself and hold to that and, you know, move from people pleasing, which more often than not is usually a survival mechanism because we find a way to
00:08:59
Speaker
survive and navigate life is just make everyone happy and all that stuff. And then but that can lead to pain later, especially as we get older, because then we don't really bring ourselves in the equation or what we really truly need or what's going on for us. So it's great that you found that. and That's a definitely can be a hard skill initially at first. I'm not sure how you found that.
00:09:19
Speaker
It could be terrifying and it could also piss a lot of people off that you're maybe not used to saying them to or something and you know But on the back end you start to I mean how do you feel now like from doing it? Do you feel more
The Birth of Self-Hoot & Its Mission
00:09:31
Speaker
confident you feel?
00:09:32
Speaker
Absolutely. I feel a lot more confident in, honestly, my skills, my ability, my graphic design skills. Like before growing up, I would um be so ashamed to share my work because I felt like that there was, it needed to be perfect. um And I felt like I wasn't my skill alone wasn't good enough. So I pretty much try whatever it takes to make it close to perfect. And that was a huge struggle growing up. And after going through my coaching life coach, it's taught me that, you know, that mentality isn't healthy at all. And, um, after I gained that understanding,
00:10:17
Speaker
I became more confident to share my skills and that's one of the big reasons why I um started self-hoot is to share my skills and talents with the world but also to help others who may be feeling the same way what I felt growing up.
00:10:36
Speaker
I love that. Um, and before we jump into self food, cause we're going to write in a second, I have one more question because you know, I'm curious that I, people might be listening. I think it just helps normalize things, but you know, what was the, if you, and you can say no to this, but what was the messaging or fear or lie that was told you that I had to be perfect because if I'm not, what might happen?
00:10:56
Speaker
I felt honestly a sense of like I would be a ah fraud, you know, like the um but imposter syndrome. That's a huge thing. Like I felt like I was, I wasn't capable of being great at what I do. Yeah. Hence the perfectionism. I got to be perfect to to fix and resolve that. Did it ever resolve or fix that? The perfectionism.
00:11:19
Speaker
Um, no, I think, I think honestly, I think I'll deal with it throughout my whole entire life, but it's a matter of like coping with it, but it has gotten better. I feel like it's not as an issue as before, not knowing what I know now.
00:11:36
Speaker
yeah What do you know now this that helps you? I think it's going to be a constant journey. like there's It's not a destination. I wish it was, but it's just going to be a constant journey of this yeah becoming better each and every day. Yeah. No, and I resonate with that. My messaging that I was i worked through my early 20s was the fear of not being enough. And I found that through achievement, not perfectionism, but you know attaining you know metals, skills, education, right? So that would prove that I'm that I'm enough. If I do this, then I have value, right? So, and same thing discovered that, that goalpost just keeps moving, right? I achieve it, but then it's like, well, but I'm still not enough. And so I do the, and then get the next achievement of still not enough. And then, and then I realized that not at the core of who I am is I am enough the way I am. Now I want to improve myself, but my humanness, my personhood, I have value just the way I am, right?
00:12:31
Speaker
I too that every now and then that fear comes
Self-Hoot's Vision & Future Plans
00:12:33
Speaker
in for me as well. You're right. It's a journey, but that that lie, that shame message. Um, and it sounds like yours as well as becoming most likely more manageable, not so loud, not so, uh, you know, controlling, but absolutely.
00:12:47
Speaker
You could see it like, no, I see you kind of let's let's put you over here. let Let's go back to what I know now. And that's so great that you're there. And, you know, leading us to this, that because of this, you wanted to share kind of more of these messages. So tell us more about self-hoot, man. Tell us about this, your kind of company, your vision.
00:13:07
Speaker
Yeah, so it started when I was in college. So I've always wanted to create something that helps people or helps makes it make a difference in the world. I'm not sure what that would be. So I just started working. And then once I started my mental health self discovery journey, um it kind of hit a spark i became more and more passionate towards this community and this this drive and. There's there's one day i was working with my life coach and he said you you know and you need to you need to um talk better about yourself cuz you have a lot of value and um he was telling me that i need to.
00:13:54
Speaker
use positive affirmations to every single day. Just tell myself that I'm worthy. I am enough. And that's the thing that I struggled with is coming up with those positive affirmations and keep on using them on a daily basis, just having that extra reminder. And that's what kind of brought the idea of self-hoot. I struggled with reminding myself that I i am enough. I am worthy. i I am capable of achieving my dreams. And I thought, you know, why not use my talent of graphic design and combine it somehow? And that's what I did. in them And honestly, I'm very passionate about it because I combined something that I love and also a little part of me that makes it a little bit more genuine and real.
00:14:45
Speaker
Hmm, I like that. Combining something I love and also a part of me that makes it genuine. I love that. Something, yeah, I love that. A part of me goes into this. What's some of your messages so far that you have out there? And again, those that are listening, there's gonna be links in the description for self-hoot to take you directly to Aaron's site to, you know, if so inclined to buy a product for yourself or someone you love.
00:15:11
Speaker
um But what's one of your favorite messages so far that you have out there which one resonates most with you? My favorite like one I have so far is actually the t-shirt I sent you. It's okay to not be okay. Yeah. I like that one. It's, it just has a really good message behind it is like life is tough, you know, and you're not going to be okay. And it's okay. You know, just crank in and ah do your absolute best and keep on trying, you know, take it a day at a time.
00:15:42
Speaker
just having that understanding that its it's okay to not be okay. You don't have to feel ashamed for feeling that way, like your feelings matter. And that's that's a huge thing that I wanted with self-hoot is just having people understand that it's okay to feel what you're you're feeling.
00:16:01
Speaker
and ah And I would guess, that you would be correct if I'm wrong, that when you say that message, ah would how I take it is that you're wanting the person to not feel so alone, that they're validated in their current emotional state or thought state, and that they don't need to necessarily change anything in that moment, that they're not wrong or flawed or bad, but that it's okay. that I see you, right? I understand. I mean, that's how I was hearing it. I mean, what are you hoping for the those that see that word or but wear that shirt? What are you hoping for them to to feel or think about themselves?
00:16:33
Speaker
Honestly, I hope that they feel that they're not alone, you know, that other people are going through in the exact, not necessarily exact same thing that, but similar, you know, but just having that understanding that you're not alone is just a huge thing because the feeling of being alone is like the worst feeling.
00:16:52
Speaker
Hmm. Yeah, I think so too. The feeling of isolation, you know, I think ah with that, I think a lot of men could feel that isolation, you know, especially in the realm of mental health or mental wellness, right? Don't talk about it. And that can be very isolating and lonely feeling for so many men.
00:17:08
Speaker
and women, but I focus a lot on men. And hearing that is, I think, such an important message that um it's okay to not be okay, that it's okay that you're not alone, we see you keep going, and, you know, that you're not alone in this journey, even though at times you can feel that way, but other people see that. um You know, I'm wondering, what is your big, you know, if Aaron could cast a vision for 2025 for self-hoot in its messages, what would he but would he like to see? What would you like to see happen?
Encouraging Emotional Health & Self-Compassion
00:17:39
Speaker
I just want to get honestly, i I could see a lot of growth, but I also want I could see like, I just want to make a difference in the world, you know, and I want to see people just wearing my my shirt and just spreading how important it is to focus on your mental health and yourself.
00:18:00
Speaker
yourself talk and honestly kill the stigma of um mental health within um men yeah because it's not talked about a lot no um i mean that's part of why i do this show and i I agree. Everything you just said, I'm all for. And I think it's going to take a community of people joining together to change that narrative and and to make a difference. It's not one man or one person, but really ah a community. And I mean, that's part of the show. That's part of your vision for your company. That's part of a lot of people that I've connected with through integrated man project and even through my men's collective.
00:18:38
Speaker
is it's all about trying to make this impact for the greater good for you know all men to to change kind of that unfortunate narrative out there. And so I'm with you and joining hand in hand like, hey, that's part of why I wanna do the show is joining arms together saying, let's make a difference that we need each other in our different niches, talents, skill sets, spheres of influence, weight in ways of spreading that message, right, through different mediums is so needed, whether it's through art, music, you know, a shirt design company, a podcast, whatever it is, is like we need all these mediums to come together to make that impact to reach men in their different kind of domains. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. I'm so, I'm so with you on that vision, man. I'm with you.
00:19:23
Speaker
So I'm wondering, anything coming up, any new designs you're excited about or coming in 2025? You have a couple coming out that you're looking forward to releasing? Yeah, actually, I have been working with a life coach. I've been reaching out to a couple of life coaches to talk to see if they have any like ideas of what would uh, be beneficial for their, um, their clients. And I have a couple of ideas that I got, and I'm really excited about. And what do you think those are going to might be coming out? Um, probably early next year. I'm, I'm going to be working on a few.
00:20:05
Speaker
good In the next few weeks, probably around Christmas christmass break. ah So I'm really excited about it. Yeah. Well, I'm excited to hear about it. So, you know, I know you can't spill the beans too much because obviously you want to keep it probably close to the chest, but you know, come in a couple of weeks, I'm sure we'll get a preview. You know, though again, those that are listening, there'll be links that you can see all these things.
00:20:27
Speaker
um And I'm wondering a couple final questions for today. You know, if you could leave a message for men um listening um with whether it's a mix of your personal story or your company or both, what would you like them to know? What would be, do you think, an important message for them to know right now?
00:20:44
Speaker
Honestly, I think the one thing that I think what I would say is just do it, you know, have that have that confidence, just little tiny 30 seconds of confidence and make that step, reach out to a life coach or a therapist and take that step to become um a healthy, emotionally healthy man, because it's totally worth it. You know, like gaining the confidence,
00:21:13
Speaker
Honestly, I'm so blessed just to be on this journey because I feel so much peace with myself. And I feel like I can do anything if I put my mind to it. There's nothing that I feel like I can't do. And just having that confidence and understanding is is a powerful thing. And also having a vision, vision of what you want to achieve in your life is a huge thing. One of the one of the things i remember for my life coach that he said to me was a man without a vision is a man without a future a man without a future will always return to his past and i'm a firm believer of that is like having a vision what you want in your life is a ah powerful thing
00:22:01
Speaker
And I think having self-compassion and knowing that you'll be okay as long as you're every day at a time. taking
Self-Hoot Products & Messages
00:22:11
Speaker
Taking small steps and be kind to yourself. Yeah, I love that. And it's, I think, again, part of the message behind, you know, self-food. I think, you know, looking at the site right now, um I yeah love the shirt, it's not okay to not be okay, you know, but I love the the compassionate, right?
00:22:29
Speaker
vision that we have for ourselves and you have one I think another shirt is I'm capable of achieving my dreams right that's another good one um and then I love the the iceberg shirt that has some of the the fears behind you know what we are what what we see people achieving but we don't always see what's behind the surface and I think having that kind of validation and normalization that, hey, sometimes we struggle even if we see this kind of success. There's a lot of great products. um I'm excited to see what you're coming out later this year um in 2025 to see what you're going to share, but I'm all about this message. And, you know, one final question. It's a little a bit of a pivot, but something that I love asking because I'm a big music fan. I love vinyl. I love, I'm a big music fan and I love playing music, but I'm curious, you know,
00:23:17
Speaker
What are you currently listening to right now that's inspiring you or speaking to you or motivating you or anything like that? What kind of music? Is it a certain band or genre? Anything at all right now? So I actually don't listen to a lot of music.
00:23:30
Speaker
That's okay. But I listen to a lot of podcasts right now. like um I'll take that. i'll say I'm obsessed with podcasts. What's a podcast that you're currently just digging right now? you die so there's this guy besides Besides this one, of course. this one Absolutely. but yeah yeah So but there's this guy. His name is Rob Dial.
00:23:50
Speaker
Okay. Um, it's ah his podcast is called the mindset mentor. Okay. And it's legit like talking about mindset, having a good mindset and just talking literally about every aspect of mental health and mindset. It's great. It's incredible. I listened to it every day.
00:24:09
Speaker
Well, good. Hey, that's that's awesome. So we'll you know I'll have to check it out as well. I always love a good podcast and listen to something different and get my my you know my mind thinking about something else. So thanks for sharing that. Hey, Aaron, where can we find you? If people want to jump on and find your products, what's the best way to get ahold of you? Can you share all that information? Yeah, absolutely. um I'm on Instagram. um My Instagram handle is um shot ah shop And then you can also find me on Facebook, but you can also find my website at selfhoot.com. Awesome.
00:24:45
Speaker
Well, definitely, again, links will be in the description for those that are watching on YouTube. If you're listening on the audio version, again, links will be in the description for the Instagram page, as well as the direct link to the website to go. Again, a great gift to buy a loved one to or to wear yourself.
00:25:03
Speaker
to
Conclusion & Appreciation
00:25:04
Speaker
send a positive message. um And just even wear yourself to send a positive message to people around you and complete strangers because you never know what someone needs to hear, right? You never know what spending spreading kindness and generosity does to anyone around you. um We just don't know. um So I think this messaging of just spreading kindness, compassion, positive affirmations to not only yourself, but those around you.
00:25:26
Speaker
is really what this world needs more of. So Aaron, hey man, thank you so much for what you're doing, for your vision, for your heart, for your story, for your passion to spread this message and to make, like you said, a better and bigger impact and on this world and to really you know unite people and kind of get rid of loneliness, right? And connect people worth where they need it. So I appreciate you, man.
00:25:52
Speaker
Thank you. I appreciate that. yeah Thank you for having me. Yeah, man. Anytime.